


No Family is Perfect

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: Family is Everything [1]
Category: Jersey Boys - Gaudio/Crewe/Brickman/Elice
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drama, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fatherhood, Gen, Humor, M/M, Surprise Fatherhood, the past comes back to bite you sometimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-14
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-04-26 09:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5000236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On a cool June morning, Frankie gets the shock of a lifetime when his past catches up with him in the form of a daughter he never knew he had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Family is Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> June 2001

It was the sun peeking through their curtains that woke Bob that morning as the beam of light tried to work its way into his eye through his closed eyelid. Bob groaned slightly and tried to turn his head away, but the sun wasn’t having any of his excuses and continued to heat his face, attempting to force his eyes open.

“What time is it?” he mumbled blearily, squinting against the bright morning sun.

Frankie gave a small huff of annoyance, burying his head deeper into Bob’s shoulder and snuggling closer to his side, “I don’t care.”

Bob chuckled sleepily as he glanced down at Frankie, “When did you get in last night?”

Frankie was a singer, and a damn good one too. He’d been trying for a long time to get consistent employment at one of Belleville’s many bars and clubs, but nobody seemed to be hiring permanent performers. Instead, he filled in when other acts couldn’t make it. As such, Frankie was always on call. Occasionally, as had happened the day before, he would get called in to a club in some other town, which would cause him to get home even later than usual. They had talked before about moving to New York City, which had even more opportunities than here in New Jersey, but Bob’s job was here in Belleville and all of their friends were here in Belleville, so they had ultimately concluded that it made more sense to stay and Frankie would commute if he had to. The most recent iteration of that conversation had been nearly a year ago on Bob and Frankie’s two year anniversary, right before they had decided to buy a house together.

It was a nice place, if rather small. The downstairs had a kitchen, living room, a bathroom, and a second bedroom that was currently being used as an office/music room. Upstairs, in what had been an attic area, the previous owners had renovated a master bedroom and bathroom.

“Too late for it to be considered ‘late’ anymore,” grumbled Frankie in response.

Bob couldn’t help but laugh a little again, “Come on, sleepy head. I know you got in late, but we’ve got lunch with Tommy and Nick today.”

“Just cancel it,” replied Frankie, already sounding more awake than he had been but still bleary.

“Frankie,” prodded Bob, “Nick sounded pretty desperate when he called the other day. I think Tommy is having another one of his crazy ideas and Nick can’t talk him down from it alone.”

“Alright, alright,” Frankie said, finally opening his eyes, “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Get me to do things.”

Bob grinned and leaned in, “Because you love me.”

Frankie met him halfway and pressed their lips together, “We could always just spend all day in bed.”

“As alluring as that is,” Bob sighed, placing a chaste kiss on Frankie’s forehead. He untangled his legs from Frankie’s and levered himself out of bed, “I’ll go start the coffee maker.”

By the time Frankie managed to pull himself from bed, grimacing when he saw that it was only seven in the morning, and started going downstairs, the smell of percolating coffee was filling the house. They moved easily around each other in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast, passing things back and forth without even needing to speak, their only accompaniment being the happily burbling percolator. As always, breakfast was taken in comfortable silence, Bob reading the front page of the paper while Frankie preferred to busy himself with the comics. Once the breakfast dishes were washed and set to dry on the rack, Bob headed upstairs to get dressed while Frankie drank his second mug of coffee. Just as Frankie had moved to the front page of the paper, a knock sounded on the front door.

 

"Frankie can you get that?" Bob hollered from upstairs, his voice muffled by his toothbrush.

  
  
Frankie went to open the door with a coffee mug in hand. He had no idea who could possibly be knocking on their door this early on a Sunday morning.

The opened door revealed the last person Frankie had expected to see, but there she was, Mary Delgado. Even with her face mostly obscured by the large sunglasses she wore, Frankie knew it was her. Who he didn't recognize was the little girl who stood beside her. She had chocolate brown eyes and her dark brown hair hung loosely around her face. She seemed vaguely familiar, but Frankie couldn’t place how.

Mary Delgado had been Frankie’s first long-term girlfriend. They’d been together all throughout high school and he had lost his virginity to her over winter break of their first year in college. Soon after that, Mary had broken up with him for reasons that she refused to elaborate upon and had disappeared from his life. After getting his bachelor’s degree, Frankie had met Bob and the two of them had gotten together not too long after. Frankie and Bob had been together for nearly three years now and Frankie hadn’t seen Mary for the past eight.

  
  
"Mary, what're you doing here?" Frankie looked at the little girl then to his ex-girlfriend, “How do you know where I live?”

  
  
"Congrats Frankie, you're a father," Mary replied taking a long drag of her cigarette.

Frankie's eyes went wide, he was so stunned he couldn't speak. He realized then why the girl looked so familiar. She had the same eyes that he had seen staring out of his own childhood photos. The hair color was more Mary than Frankie, but the curls were definitely all his.

  
  
"Francine, this is your father aren't you going to say hello?" Mary prompted the girl. Francine ducked behind Mary who dragged her back out, "He's not going to hurt you honey."

  
  
Frankie set down his mug on a nearby table before kneeling down so that he was eye level with his daughter.

"It's okay," Frankie spoke softly and smiled at her.

  
  
Francine lingered a moment longer before taking a step forward, "You're my daddy?" she asked shyly.

  
Frankie nodded, hardly able to believe it himself, but suddenly extremely sure that it was true. Francine smiled back shyly and then threw her arms around him in a hug, nearly knocking him over in the process. Frankie wrapped his arms around her as he picked her up and turned to Mary.

“Would you like to come in?” he asked.

  
  
Mary took another drag before tossing the cigarette to the ground and putting it out with her shoe. She pulled off her sunglasses and breezed past Frankie. Bob came down the stairs, fully dressed in casual clothes.

  
  
"Frankie, what's going on?"

Bob stopped when he caught sight of Mary and Francine, who still clung to Frankie.

  
  
Frankie sighed, "Bobby, this is my ex-girlfriend Mary Delgado and her daughter Francine."

  
  
"Francine Castelluccio," Mary interjected.

  
  
Bob looked between the three of them: Mary managing to look both haughty and completely run down, Frankie doing that puppy-dog eye thing that Bob couldn’t resist, Francine shyly clinging to Frankie and looking as if she was about to cry.

"You have a daughter?" he asked, not quite managing to swallow down the hurt in his voice.

  
  
Frankie set Francine down and she clung to him the same way she had to Mary just moments before, "I just found out myself."

  
  
"How did you not know that you had a six year old daughter?" asked Bob, still trying to keep himself calm. How was Frankie being so blasé about this?

  
  
"She's seven," Mary responded primly as she glared at Bob.

  
  
"I didn't even know she was ever pregnant!" Frankie replied defensively, "You can't blame me."

  
  
Mary reached into the bag she had wheeled in with her and pulled out a teddy bear, "Francine why don't you go take Murphy and go play?"

  
  
"But Mama," Francine whined as she tugged at the bottom of Frankie's shirt.

  
  
"Now," Mary replied firmly.

  
  
Francine grabbed the bear and followed Frankie to the living room while Bob stiffly showed Mary into the kitchen where she sat at the table. They sat in a moment of tense silence until Frankie returned.

  
  
"Almost eight years of nothing and then you show up with a kid in tow," Frankie said as he sat down, "Mary, what the hell is going on here?"

  
  
"I can't take care of her anymore," Mary muttered.

  
  
"Why not?" Frankie furrowed his brow, “Is it money? If it is I'll do whatever I can to help you."

  
  
"I mean it's time for you to be a father, I need you to take Francine," Mary explained.

“Hang on you can't just leave your daughter here," Bob interrupted.

 

"And who the hell are you?" Mary snapped back at Bob.

  
  
"I'm Frankie's partner,” responded Bob, pointedly taking Frankie’s hand.

  
  
Mary laughed harshly, “I guess I’m just so good that I ruined women for you and you had to settle on this guy.”

Bob bristled at the the tone of Mary’s voice and spat out a venomous, “Fuck off.”

  
  
"This is not important right now," Frankie interrupted, squeezing Bob’s hand reassuringly. Bob didn’t curse very often, but when he did it always had the full, whole-hearted meaning behind it, "We need to talk about Francine. Why are you doing this now?"

  
  
"Because it's time you stepped up and acted like her father," Mary responded, her glare still on Bob, whose steely eyes stared right back.

  
  
"You can't keep acting like this, you never even told me, what was I supposed to do?" Frankie said, beginning to get frustrated.

Mary pulled her gaze away from Bob and settled it on Frankie.

"Mary," Frankie said, cutting her tirade short before it could begin again. His voice was shaking the way it did when he was trying not to yell, "do not think for one minute that I would refuse to care for my child," he squeezed out through grit teeth, "do not think for one second that I would not have done my share in raising her if you had had an ounce of the bravery you needed to tell me about her. So don't talk to me about the bravery of your commitment as a single mother, that was your choice to make." His final words cut off sharply, the biting tone making his anger and frustration painfully clear. The fight had left Mary's eyes as she looked away from Frankie and took a shuddering breath.

"You'll be good for her," she said, her voice wavering.

 

"I know," Frankie returned with conviction.

 

Mary sighed and wiped discreetly at her eyes before pulling a large manila envelope from her oversized purse and placing it on the table.

"All of her medical records are in there as well as a birth certificate confirming you as her father," Mary announced.

"There should be a custody agreement," Bob piped up, "something in writing that's been notarized saying that you've given Frankie primary custody of Francine."

 

"It's there," Mary confirmed with a tight smile, "my boyfriend’s college roommate is a lawyer."

"How nice," Bob muttered as he went to check the contents of the envelope.

Bob slid the documents out of the manila envelope, a stack of photos following in their wake. He handed the photos to Frankie and turned to the papers, beginning to read them through.

Mary watched as Frankie flipped through the pictures. They were mostly of Francine, of course, but one in particular drew Frankie’s attention. It had been taken at a hospital and Mary was sitting in a bed with sickly green coverings, a sheet pulled up to her waist. In her arms was a small bundle of linen out of which Frankie could see a tiny, red face peeking out.

“Is that,” he murmured, his voice catching.

“The day we were allowed to go home,” confirmed Mary, “There were some complications during the birth and we had to stay in the hospital an extra week.”

“I wish you would have told me,” Frankie said, “I would have been there.”

Mary laughed humorlessly, “You would have stayed with me for her sake and nothing else. You didn’t love me, Frankie, not that way I wanted you to.”

Frankie didn’t know how to respond to that. It was true, after all.

“Well, everything seems to be in order,” Bob sighed as he placed the documents back in the envelope.

“It’s good of you to do this,” Mary said, her focus still on Frankie, “I knew that I could count on you.”

“But Mary,” Frankie started, his voice drifting off as he lay the photographs carefully on the table.

“Don’t argue with me, Frankie,” Mary cut in, “just take care of her.”

“We will,” replied Frankie resolutely.

Mary’s eyes flicked briefly to Bob, but she didn’t say anything to him, directing her terse “I trust you” to Frankie alone. Bob’s jaw clenched and he resisted the urge to say what was on his mind. He stayed a few steps behind them, stoic and stern-faced, as Frankie rose to show Mary out.

She paused at the living room, her gaze resting on Francine.

“Bye honey.”

Despite the way she was trying to sound detached, Mary’s voice shook slightly with emotion. She slid her sunglasses on to hide watery eyes before giving Francine a quick hug. She walked out the front door, which closed with loud bang. Francine jumped slightly, unused to the door’s harsh closure. She clutched Murphy to her chest and ran to the window, watching Mary leave. When her mother was no longer in sight she turned back to Frankie and Bob.

“When is Mommy coming back?” Francine asked as she looked up at Frankie with wide, brown eyes.

Frankie felt a pit of dread well up in his stomach, he had no idea what to tell her. Judging by the way that Mary had left, and all of the things they were sure to find in the bulging suitcase she’d deposited by the front door, he doubted that she would ever be coming back. There was no way that he could say that to Francine, then again probably anything that he was to say to her at this point would cause the same reaction.

“Daddy?” The complacent look on Francine’s face was turning into a frown.

“Mommy is going away for awhile,” Frankie started to explain but the look on Francine’s face was too much, “I don’t know when Mommy is coming back.”

It would be better, Frankie decided, for her to know the truth now instead of stringing her along.

There were a few moments while Francine processed this information. At her age, the whole idea of an adult not knowing something could be scary and feel slightly unreal. When Frankie didn’t add anything more, it didn’t take long for tears to start falling from Francine’s eyes and for her to start crying loudly. She tried hiding her face with her teddy bear which she squeezed tightly and allowed to muffle her large sobs. Frankie walked over to her but she turned away from him when he approached.

“Francine honey, it’s gonna be okay,” Frankie tried to talk over her wailing, in the background he could hear the phone ringing and Bob going to get it.

“I want Mommy,” Francine wailed, her breath catching between each word.

“I’m sorry sweetie I can’t bring Mommy back,” Frankie said soothingly.

“Frankie, Nicky is on the phone,” Bob paused and took in the scene, his eyes hovering on Francine, “Never mind, I’ll deal with it.”

Bob nodded and went back to the phone call, “Yeah, something has kinda come up,” he walked towards the kitchen, his voice getting softer as he continued, “No, we can still meet but can you come over here?”

When Bob was out of sight, Frankie turned his focus back to his daughter. Francine’s sobs had quieted slightly but it was clear that she was still upset, this time when Frankie approached her she didn’t move away. Frankie slowly reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, she then scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“Does Mommy not love me anymore?” Francine asked in a watery voice, hiccuping slightly.

Frankie shook his head, “Of course not, it’s just she thought you would like to spend some time with me. Is that okay?”

Francine nodded hesitantly, “But she’s gonna be gone for a long time?”

For the indefinite future, Frankie thought to himself, “Yes she is.”

Francine was no longer actively crying but tears kept falling down her cheeks. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks flushed bright red. She looked, Frankie thought, just like he looked after crying. It was remarkable the similarities that he could already see between them.

Frankie tried to think of anything he could do to help her, he then remembered something his mother used to do.

“Come on,” Frankie said, rising and taking Francine’s hand to lead her into the kitchen and walk her over to the sink. The phone was still out of its cradle, so Bob was still using it, but Frankie couldn’t think where he might have gone. Taking a dish towel, Frankie ran it under cold water until it was soaked through, he then wrung it out so that it no longer dripped and then pressed the cloth gently to Francine’s face. At least it would hopefully help the redness, and he noticed she seemed to relax a little bit.

“Have you had any breakfast?” Frankie asked.

Francine shook her head.

“Okay I want you to hold this and I’ll get you something to eat.”

Frankie then went to look through their pantry, “What do you like to eat for breakfast?”

Francine shrugged.

Frankie shifted some items around and somehow was coming up short on cereal. He then glanced to see there was still some pancake batter from earlier in the morning that hadn't been cleaned yet. “How about pancakes?”

At that, Francine’s eyes brightened and she nodded happily, “With chocolate chips?”

Frankie had to smile at that and he couldn’t really deny her, she was probably having the worst day of her life so whatever he could do to make it better he would try it.

“Sure,” Frankie replied as he looked for the stray bag of chocolate chips that he knew was somewhere in their pantry.

Frankie was flipping the pancakes when Bob entered the kitchen.

“What’s this, then?” he asked, smiling slightly. He liked watching Frankie cook and Frankie knew it.

“Brektis,” Francine replied from the kitchen table, her little legs swinging.

“Breakfast,” corrected Frankie.

“Breakfast,” repeated Francine dutifully, “Daddy is making chocolate chip pancakes.”

“Yes he is,” Bob said.

He sat at the table across from Francine, resting his chin on his hands so he would be closer to her level. Bob had never been a big fan of kids and he always felt awkward around them. He was his parents youngest child, so he'd never really had to deal with kids. It wasn’t that he didn’t make an effort, he really did, but he had grown up at an early age and children could sense that lack of childhood in him.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Bob asked the girl.

Francine nodded seriously, looking Bob squarely in the eye.

“I,” Bob said conspiratorily, “love chocolate.”

Francine seemed fascinated by this, “But you’re a grown up!”

“That’s debatable,” laughed Frankie as he slid the plate of pancakes in front of Francine, dropping a quick kiss on Bob’s forehead.

Bob grinned, “Look who’s talking.”

“Hush, you,” Frankie shot back.

“Are you daddy’s brother?” asked Francine, muffled by pancake and chocolate.

“Chew and swallow before you speak,” Bob said absently, “and no I’m not. Your daddy and I,” he paused and looked to Frankie. Frankie seemed as much at a loss as he was and shrugged slightly.

“Okay, so you know how people usually have a mommy and a daddy?” asked Bob, silently cursing Frankie for not interjecting anything to help him.

Francine nodded, “A mommy and a daddy love each other very much,” she intoned seriously.

“That’s very true. And sometimes someone has two mommies who love each other very much or two daddies who love each other very much.”

Bob floundered slightly, but still Frankie didn’t jump in to help. Jerk.

“Oh, you’re daddy’s boyfriend,” Francine replied, “mommy has a boyfriend.”

“I’m actually your daddy’s partner,” said Bob, “do you know what that means?”

Francine shook her head.

“I’m more than a boyfriend, but we’re not married yet.”

“But you love daddy very much?” Francine asked worriedly.

“I love your daddy very, very much,” responded Bob. He couldn’t stop himself from blushing and grinning slightly.

Francine seemed very pleased with this development.

“Good!” she said, spearing another piece of pancake dripping with maple syrup, “Since you’re more than a boyfriend that means you won’t yell at daddy like mommy’s boyfriend does.”

“Your mother’s boyfriend yells at her?” asked Frankie, taking Bob’s hand a squeezing it.

“She thinks I don’t know,” continued Francine, “she always sends me away when he gets ready to start, but I can hear him through the walls sometimes.”

Frankie’s grip on Bob’s hand tightened further. Bob knew what he was thinking. It was very probable that Mary had dropped Francine off to save the girl from being on the receiving end of the emotional abuse she was suffering. Bob didn’t even know Mary all that well and he still resented her slightly, but he wasn’t heartless enough to not feel sorry for her.

“So what do I call you?” asked Francine, too young to linger on the implications of Mary’s boyfriend’s yelling.

“My name is Bob.”

“That’s a silly name,” Francine giggled.

“That’s what I keep telling him,” agreed Frankie.

“I don’t think you have ever called me Bob for entire time that we have known each other,” countered Bob.

“That’s because Bobby is so much more fun to say.”

“There are some things that I want to say right now,” Bob informed him, “but I can’t because there are young ears present.”

“Are they things I wouldn’t want to hear or things that you might tell me later?” Frankie asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“You think you’re so cute.”

“I am so cute.”

Francine looked between the two of them, her eyes bouncing back and forth, “Are you fighting?”

“No, sweetheart,” Frankie laughed, “we’re teasing.”

“Good. I’m done with brektis,” Francine said, then her eyes widened and she intoned seriously, “breakfast.”

“Okay, why don’t you go play in the living room for a little bit,” suggested Bob, “your daddy and I need to think about going shopping. We probably don’t have any food that you’ll eat.”

“I don’t like broccoli,” Francine informed them, “and tomatoes are icky, but pasta with tomato sauce is okay.”

“You’ll be coming with us to the store, so you’ll be able to help us pick out some things for you, okay?”

“‘Kay!” Francine agreed easily.

Once she was gone and they could hear her talking to her bear in the other room, Frankie sighed heavily and let his head fall to the table.

“This day has not gone the way I expected it to,” moaned Frankie.

“I guess that’s what happens when you have surprise visits from ex-girlfriends,” replied Bob crisply, pulling his hand from Frankie’s and rising.

“Bobby,” Frankie said, resting his cheek against the table so that he could look at him, “I swear I didn’t know about Francine.”

Bob began washing Francine’s breakfast dishes, his back to Frankie and his shoulders stiff, “I believe you.”

“But you’re angry.”

“No shit, Sherlock.”

There was Bob swearing again. Twice in one day was a real rarity and Frankie winced.

“I just,” sighed Bob, gripping the counter, his shoulders hunched, “Why didn’t you tell me? About Mary, I mean. Why would you keep that from me?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’ve told you everything,” continued Bob, as if Frankie hadn’t spoken, “everything about my past, every little detail of my history and it hurts, okay? It hurts that you didn’t give me the same privilege, the same respect.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Frankie said softly.

“I know you didn’t,” replied Bob, “but you did. I’m not going to make you sleep on the couch or anything,” he said, turning to face Frankie, the plate in his hands rinsed but still dripping water, “considering what Francine told us about Mary’s boyfriend I’m afraid she’ll get the wrong idea if she knows that I’m pissed off at you, but I need some kind of answer and please,” he turned away again to dry the plate and put it away, “I need something more that ‘I don’t know,’ because if you don’t know then who the hell does?”

There was a short, tense silence, broken only by the clacking of the plate as Bob returned it to its place followed by the soft rip of him tearing off the top page of the pad they used for their shopping list.

“We needed to go shopping anyway,” said Bob, sitting at the table again, across from Frankie rather than beside him, “What do kids eat?”

“Sweets,” Frankie replied promptly.

Bob just looked at him, “That’s very helpful. Let’s see,” he muttered and started writing, “we’ll definitely need some plastic dishes too. Cereal, that’s good, some kind of bread that she’ll eat. That’ll be good for school in the fall.”

He paused writing and looked up at Frankie with wide eyes, “School. She has to go to school in September. And we don’t have a bed for her or anything. We’ll have to move some stuff out of the office and make it into a bedroom. Should we paint the walls? They’re a bit drab for a seven-year-old girl.”

“Slow down, Bobby,” Frankie said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, “We’ll figure all this stuff out, let’s just think about the necessities first, what we need to get right away.”

Several minutes later, they had an extensive list and a planned route that would take them to all the places they would need to go.

“I told Nick and Tommy to come for dinner instead of lunch,” Bob told Frankie as he was helping Francine get her shoes on.

“That’s a good idea. Do we need to get a car seat before we can take her anywhere?” asked Frankie.

“I called Pamela across the street,” replied Bob, “her kid, Jeremy, is Francine’s age and she doesn’t have to take him anywhere, so she’s letting us borrow his car seat for today.”

“That’s one of the things I love about you,” Frankie said, “you’re so organized.”

Bob flashed him a small smile, “I’ll go grab it, be right back.”

While Bob ran to get the car seat, Frankie opened the suitcase Mary had dropped off. It looked like they were covered for clothing, Frankie discovered, and he also triumphantly emerged with two CDs of music suitable for Francine. When Bob returned, and after very little fuss, they were on their way, the car filled with the sounds of various children’s songs, some of which Frankie recognized.

“I am going to get very tired of this song,” grumbled Bob as Francine begged them to start “The Wheels on the Bus” over again for the third time.

“Oh, come on,” laughed Frankie, “she inherited her father’s voice.”

\--------

“For the last time, no.”

“Aw come on, Bobby,” Frankie said, holding the cereal box up again and shaking it slightly, “there’s chocolate in it! How can you say no to cereal with chocolate in it?”

“Have you even read the ingredients?” questioned Bob. He was exhausted. Rather than having Francine ride in the shopping cart, Frankie had insisted that she lead the way, so they had been practically running all over the store trying to keep up with the ball of boundless energy that was Francine. Luckily, the grocery store tended to be pretty empty Sunday morning, it was the afternoon when things really started picking up. They were nearly at the register now, their purchases lined up on the conveyer, including a very sensible and healthy breakfast cereal.

“Chocolate,” Frankie insisted, pushing the box in Bob’s face.

“Chocolate!” repeated Francine happily.

“Sugar and artificial coloring,” retorted Bob, “there’s barely a shred of real food in that stuff.”

People with soulful brown eyes, Bob thought as he was hit with a double dose of the puppydog look, should be banned from pouting. He could practically feel his resolve crumbling.

“Fine,” he groaned, “but only on special occasions, not all the time.”

Francine didn’t seem to care about the limit, because she clapped her hands and cheered excitedly, “Chocolate cereal!”

Bob wearily returned the broad smile that the cashier beamed at him as she began ringing up their items.

“Find everything okay?” she asked cheerily.

“Do you have any loving partners who act their age?” asked Bob, “I think the maturity settings on mine are a little off.”

The cashier laughed. He had only been half joking, really. By the time they got back out to the car, Francine was starting to get cranky, so Frankie strapped her in while Bob loaded up the car. He never realized that domesticity like this could come so easily, Frankie mused, it had been one thing when it was just the two of them, but now everything seemed so different. It _was_ different, of course, but Frankie found himself liking it.

Halfway home, as the speakers blared out “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and god how Bob was coming to hate the name Mary, Frankie let out a small noise.

“Look,” he said, nudging his head backwards.

Bob looked in the rearview mirror and saw that Francine had fallen asleep.

“Oh, thank god,” sighed Bob, hastily switching from the CD to the radio, allowing Vivaldi to fill the vehicle, his hands relaxing their grip on the steering wheel.

\--------

When the doorbell rang, Bob all but ran to open it. It was nearing five o’clock and the bed they had ordered for same-day delivery still hadn’t arrived. Opening the door only revealed Tommy, however.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“That’s not very nice. We come bearing gifts,” Tommy said as he entered carrying pizza boxes in one hand and a six pack in the other.

Bob felt a small body collide with his leg and looked down to see Francine clinging to it.

“Who are you?”

Tommy looked to the little girl who had posed the question, “I’ve got a better question, who the fuck are you?”

“Frankie,” Bob called, “Tommy is corrupting Francine with naughty words.”

“Tommy, don’t go around saying stuff like that in front of Francine,” Frankie said as he walked into the living room.

“Yeah?” Tommy raised an eyebrow, “well I’m gonna keep fucking saying it ‘til you tell me who the fuck Francine is.”

Frankie had covered his daughter's ears as she giggled.

“This is Francine, she’s my daughter,” Frankie explained.

Tommy looked stunned, “How the hell did that happen?”

“Well,” said Nick as he come up behind Tommy, “when a man and a woman love each other very much.”

Tommy glared at Nick, “I know that Nicky.”

“Then why did you ask?” Nick raised his eyebrows.

Tommy rolled his eyes and then turned his attention to Frankie, “So what happened did the stork drop her off? ‘Cause when we last talked you didn’t have a have a kid, ‘specially not a six year old.”

“She’s seven,” Bob corrected much in the same way that Mary had.

“Whatever,” Tommy brushed him off with a wave of his hand.

“Mary dropped her off this morning,” Frankie explained.

Tommy’s eyes went wide, “Mary? As in Mary Delgado?” he let out a laugh, “You had a kid with Mary Delgado? Nicky are you hearing this?”

“Every word,” Nick sighed.

“Are you a giant?”

Nick looked to see that Francine was talking to him, Frankie couldn’t help but let out a laugh when she said this. While Bob was tall, Nicky was taller, clearly his height was fascinating to the little girl.

“No, I’m not,” Nick replied sounding confused.

“Oh,” Francine replied, suddenly becoming uninterested, and wandered off.

“Alright, to the kitchen with the food,” Bob commanded, ushering the other three past him so that he could close the front door.

They filed dutifully into the kitchen and Tommy dropped the boxes on the table unceremoniously.

Frankie pulled out their bottle opener, “So Nicky what’s so important that you need all of us together today?” 

Nick folded his arms across his chest and turned to Tommy, “Why don’t you tell him?”

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that Frankie and Bobby are now playing house?” Tommy asked. When Nick just glared at him, Tommy smiled and popped the cap off his beer, "I'm gonna buy my own club."

Out of the corner of Frankie's eye it looked like Bob was struggling not to laugh.

“What’s so funny, Genius?”

“Oh no,” Bob said, raising his hands in surrender, “I’m not getting into this. I have a child’s room to finish setting up, assuming the bed ever gets here.”

The doorbell rang as if on cue and Bob turned to leave, “Don’t eat all the pizza, you three,” he called over his shoulder.

Tommy looked as if he was about to make another comment about Bob and Frankie’s change of behavior but he kept it to himself.

“So have you found a place?” Frankie asked, he was still wary about the whole idea of Tommy owning a club. He could now see exactly why Nicky had insisted on talking with them, he wanted him to talk Tommy out of it. Frankie was usually the second line of defense in situations like this, he only hoped that he would be successful. Frankie figured he might as well find out just how invested Tommy was into the whole idea before making an argument.

"Yeah, remember de Marco's old place?" Tommy grinned, "gonna buy it and fix it up real nice."

"Tommy that place has been abandoned since we were kids," Frankie furrowed his brow.

"I know," Tommy smirked, "which is why I can get a good price on it."

"If it's as bad as it sounds it's probably going to cost you an arm and a leg to fix it up," Bob spoke up as he lugged the in the box containing the bed past the kitchen. They could hear Francine’s squeal of excitement as he dragged the box into her room.

"That's where you come in," Tommy leaned back in his chair.

Nick shook his head and took sip of his beer, "Here it comes," he muttered.

"Tommy, I don't have money to be throwing around like that!" Frankie exclaimed, "Especially now that I need to worry about Francine."

"I'm not asking for the moon," Tommy frowned, "besides, this isn't just about me."

"Yeah?" Frankie raised an eyebrow,"then what is it about?"

"I was thinking you could maybe be a headliner," Tommy shrugged, "instead of being everybody's second pick."

The offer was sorely tempting but the club had to be functioning and at least somewhat popular to have anything come out of it. "Tommy, we just can't afford to-" even if Frankie and Bob couldn't front the money--and Frankie seriously doubted Nick would, considering how hesitant he was about the whole thing--he was certain Tommy would find a way to make this happen. Frankie just hoped that it all didn't go up in smoke.

“Frankie,” Tommy cut in, “look at me.”

Frankie complied. He could see that despite Tommy’s aloof attitude he was pretty serious about this idea.

“Who know more about clubs than me and you?” queried Tommy with an easy grin.

Frankie knew he was right, there were very few people who knew the clubs as well as he and Tommy. They’d been hanging around them since they were in high school. If anyone could run a club well it would be Tommy. Still, this was Tommy he was talking about, which made this all the more difficult.

“I know that,” Frankie leaned back in his chair, “it’s just--”

“Come on, Frankie, don’t let me down.”

Frankie glanced at Nick, who was giving him a very stony look. He had to figure out a way to appease both of them, which was impossible of course. Tommy would take anything but a definite yes as a betrayal and Nick would take anything but a definite no as a frustration. The trick was to annoy them both at once.

“I’ll have to talk to Bobby.”

Tommy groaned, just as Frankie knew he would, and Nick’s eyes hardened in that way which said he knew he hadn’t won yet.

“Talk to me about what?” Bob asked as he entered the kitchen, “The fact that putting together a bed is not a one person job? All three of you better get your butts back there and start working your screwdriver muscles.”

Frankie was the first to get up from the table, “Come on, you two, we can at least help.”

Nick soon followed and elbowed Tommy as he walked past, “Come on.”

“What’s going on?” Bob asked Frankie as they went to the spare bedroom.

“Tommy wants to buy a club, as you heard,” Frankie informed him, “and he wants us to help him.”

Bob pulled Frankie to a stop, “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not. If he wants to get himself into debt, that’s his choice, but he’s not going to pull us into it too.”

“We’ve got money put away,” Frankie started.

“We have a kid to look after,” Bob shot back, frustration coloring his voice, “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m still pissed at you about this secret nonsense. You have no right to ask favors of me right now.”

“Do I look like your personal carpenter?” Tommy called out from the bedroom, “I’m not doing all the work for you, Genius.”

They heard the derisive snort Nick let out, “You haven’t done _any_ of the work.”

Bob sighed and rubbed his eyes, “Can you deal with them?” he implored, “My head is killing me.”

The sheer level of frustration, anger, and fear that Bob was probably feeling had obviously built up over the course of the day and was getting to him. Usually Frankie could sense Bob’s migraines coming from a mile away, but he hadn’t been giving anything away this time. Without waiting for a reply, Bob started walking back the way they came. Frankie knew that he’d grab some Tylenol before going upstairs to lie down with a cold compress over his eyes. The only thing that could help Bob’s migraines recede was some darkness and quiet.

“I love you,” Frankie called softly.

Bob turned slightly to look over his shoulder and gave Frankie a tight smile, “You too.”

Frankie went and rejoined Tommy and Nick in what was slowly becoming Francine’s room. Tommy was twirling a screwdriver in his right hand as Nick glanced over the directions, Francine asking questions at breakneck speed.

“Where’s the boy wonder?” Tommy asked as he caught sight of Frankie.

“Migraine,” Frankie explained, “Let’s get this done, the pizza’s in the kitchen getting cold.”

“Pizza?” Francine chirped, “I want pizza!”

“Don’t you want to help make your bed first?” offered Nick.

“Pizza!" Francine insisted, stomping her foot.

Tommy swooped in before Frankie could say anything, “Sounds like a good plan. We’ll go have some pizza and I bet you that by the time we finish your bed will be ready.”

Francine let out a noise of happy consent and grabbed Tommy’s hand, starting to pull him out the door.

“Come on, Uncle Tommy!”

Frankie caught Tommy’s eye and gave him a sour look, angrily mouthing “you little shit.” Tommy smirked and shrugged, as if helpless to resist.

Silently, he and Nick started pulling the pieces of the bed out of the box, laying them beside the mattress that was propped up against the wall.

  
  
"Is Bob okay?" Nick asked, flipping back to the beginning of the directions, "Hand me part G."

  
  
Frankie gave him the part with a sigh, "Yeah. It's been a long day."

  
  
They continued to work in tandem, nearly silent except for asking for different parts of the bed's wooden frame.

  
  
"He didn't know," Frankie said suddenly, tightening a screw, "about Mary, I mean. I never told Bobby about Mary."

  
  
Nick raised an eyebrow, but didn't speak.

  
  
"I know it was stupid," Frankie continued, "and I don't know why I didn't."

  
  
"It was the past," Nick said finally, "you didn't think it would become the present."

  
  
"It was an important part of my life and I didn't tell him about it."

  
  
"You fucked up," returned Nick bluntly, "but he'll forgive you."

  
  
"I so didn't need this right now," mumbled Frankie as he handed Nick the final piece, "I'm not saying that I don't want her, because I do, but," he sighed, "I really didn't need this kind of surprise sprung on me."

  
  
With the last piece of the bed frame screwed on, Nick rose and walked over to Frankie, drawing him into a hug. Nick wasn't a particularly touchy-feely kind of guy, but he always knew what someone needed to feel better. Frankie relaxed into it, pressing his cheek into Nick's chest.

  
  
"Thanks, Nicky," he said when they stepped apart, "pizza?"

  
  
Nick grabbed the mattress and deposited it on the frame carefully, "Pizza."

They heard Francine before they even entered the kitchen, chattering away.

“My favorite movie is Anastasia,” she was saying happily, “It’s about a girl who doesn’t know she’s a princess and she--”

Frankie never thought that he would ever imagine “Tommy DeVito” and “cute” in the same sentence, but the sight of him sitting with Francine at the table, nodding along as if she was telling the most interesting story in the world, was just that.

“Well, we’ve got the bed together,” Frankie informed Tommy.

“Hush,” Tommy shushed him, “we just got to the good part. Go on, Passerotta.”

Francine giggled, “What’s that?”

“It means little sparrow,” Tommy told her.

“I’m not little!” Francine protested without too much vehemence.

“Compared to me you are,” Tommy said solemnly, “so until you’re bigger than I am, you’ll be the little sparrow. Deal, Passerotta?”

Francine nodded seriously, “Deal.”

She stuck out one hand, shiny with pizza grease, for him to shake.

“I like this kid,” Tommy said with a grin, “she knows a good deal when she sees it.”

“If you teach my daughter to gamble, I will end you,” Frankie informed his friend glibly with a serene smile. Nick snorted in amusement.

Frankie was anxious to get upstairs to check on Bob, but it would have to wait. He and Nick needed to eat and Tommy was already reaching for another slice, although Francine looked like she was ready to fall asleep where she sat. It was such a big change from the bubbly excitement she’d been showing just a few minutes earlier. She must have hit a wall. There was no way of knowing just how early Mary had woken her up to get her to him so early in the morning.

“Maybe it’s time we put you to bed,” Frankie said with a soft smile.

“But, Daddy,” Francine protested, even as her words turned into a large yawn.

“Come on,” Frankie laughed.

Francine didn’t bother trying to protest again, she simply got down from the chair and accompanied Frankie to her bedroom. Frankie started going through the suitcase, making a note that they would have to put everything away sooner rather than later. He found a nightgown with small fairies all over it. Luckily, he had some experience with his youngest brother, so Frankie quickly got Francine changed and sent her to the small half-bathroom adjacent to the bedroom to brush her teeth while he made up the bed. They were lucky that they had moved to this house, Frankie thought, their previous apartment would never have had enough space. 

 

There was the sound of the toilet flushing and Francine returned smelling vaguely minty, rubbing her eyes. 

 

"Can I get night night from Bobby and Uncle Tommy and Uncle Nicky too?" she asked as she burrowed under the blanket.

  
  
"I'm sure Tommy and Nick would be happy to come say goodnight," Frankie assured her, "but Bobby's not feeling very well and I think he's already asleep."

  
  
"But if I don't get night night from all the grown ups, I can't have good dreams," pouted Francine.

  
  
"How about you get an extra kiss from me to make up for it and in the morning we can tell Bobby that he's not allowed to get sick anymore," Frankie said, "How does that sound?"

  
  
Francine thought it over for a moment.

  
  
"Okay," she agreed, "but if I don't have good dreams, it's all Bobby's fault."

  
  
"I'm sure he'll make it up to you."

“Okay,” Francine consented again.

“I’ll be right back with Tommy and Nicky, alright?” Frankie replied.

Francine nodded as Frankie rose  to leave. He went back to the kitchen.

“Francine would like both of you to say goodnight to her.”

Francine was nearly asleep when they got back to her room, but she forced her eyes open when they came in.

  
  
"Now you have to do night night," Francine told them, "You say 'night night sleep tight dream of' and then something I should dream of like candy or ponies and then a kiss."

  
  
"Your wish is my command," Tommy announced gallantly in his dramatic fashion, "Night night sleep tight, dream of pizza tonight."

  
  
He smacked an overly loud kiss on her cheek, causing Francine to giggle. Nick followed the directions in a more sedate manner, telling Francine to dream about fairies before softly kissing her brow. Francine wriggled further under the blanket as Frankie took his place.

  
  
"Night night sleep tight," he told her, "dream of happiness tonight. Now, one kiss for Daddy and one kiss for Bobby."

  
  
He kissed her twice on the tip of her nose. By the time Frankie had ushered Tommy and Nick out and turned to shut off the light, Francine was fast asleep.

It took him another half hour, but Frankie finally managed to get Tommy and Nick to leave. It was only eight o'clock, but he was exhausted. Leaving the stairs light on just in case Francine needed to find them in the middle of the night, Frankie tip toed into their bedroom. Bob was a lump under the covers. The way that his eyes were screwed shut instead of lightly closed told Frankie that he was still suffering from the migraine and trying to shut out as much light as possible. He slid into bed and tugged on Bob's shoulder until he other man consented to turn around and bury his face in the crook of Frankie's neck.

Frankie exhaled deeply and slowly closed his eyes. It had been one hell of a day and he was glad it was over. He was just about to slip into the haze of sleep when he felt Bob shift slightly.

“Oh my god,” There was the slightest trace of panic in Bob’s voice, “What are we going to tell our parents?”

\------

Even though he couldn't hear her, Frankie knew that Francine was playing in her room. Not that he would have been able to hear her with all the pacing Bob was doing. The only time Frankie had seen Bob this nervous was just before the first time he had asked Frankie on a date.

"Sit down, Bobby," said Frankie softly, for about the twentieth time in the past half hour.

Bob didn't reply, but he did sit, although Frankie knew he'd be up again in a few seconds. Just like the past nineteen or so times.

Frankie sighed, “This isn’t the end of the world.” Sure this whole thing made him nervous too but Bob was taking it to a whole new level, “They were going to have to find out at some point.”

"That's not what I'm worried about," Bob admitted after a few tense moments of silence, "my parents will be thrilled to have a grandkid but," he sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily, "my mom. She's barely gotten over the fact that I'm in a relationship with a man. I can't even imagine what her thoughts would be about our ability to raise a child. A female child at that."

It was things like this that made Frankie glad that his family was as accepting as they were about him and Bobby. His mother loved them both, she made that abundantly clear every time that they came over.

 

“I can’t possibly think of anyone else more suited for the job, Francine really seems to like you.” He hoped that pointing this out would make Bobby feel at least a little bit better.

Bob didn't reply, simply sighing shakily. He believed what Frankie was saying, he truly did, but those months when his mother had refused to speak to him always weighed heavily. Unsurprisingly, it had been Samantha who had convinced her to break the silence. Bob's sister was a force to be reckoned with when she put her mind to something.

“We can do this,” Frankie spoke up, “we’ll get through this together, and we’ll come out of it just fine.”

Bob responded with a small chuckle and finally raised his eyes to meet Frankie's.

"C'mere."

Frankie didn't need to be told twice, leaning over the corner of the table that separated them for a kiss. He felt Bob relax into it and the worried wrinkle in his brow smooth away. When they broke apart, Frankie pressed their foreheads together and they simply breathed each other's presence.

"Your kisses are better than Xanax," said Bob.

Frankie laughed, "Good thing you have a life time prescription."

There was knock at the door that caused them both to jump slightly.

 

"I guess we'd better get that," Frankie sighed. He felt a wave of dread wash over him, even though he kept telling himself he had nothing to worry about he couldn't help but wonder just how his parents would view the whole situation.

When the door opened to reveal not two, but four, people, Frankie was momentarily thrown.

"Ah," he said finally, "you're all on time."

It sounded slightly more timid than he would like. When he brought them to the kitchen, Bob was filling up their electric kettle. He already knew what everyone wanted to drink, of course. It was just one of those things that he remembered. Coffee for Mr. and Mrs. Gaudio, black for her, sweet and milky for him. Chamomile tea for Mrs. Castelluccio and hot water with three lemon slices for Mr. Castelluccio. Earl Gray for Bob because he was still feeling shaky and decaf for Frankie, who was trying to cut down on his caffeine intake.

"W-won't you sit down?" Bob spoke up nervously and gestured towards the living room. There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone took their seats and Frankie brought out the drinks.

"Frankie," Mrs. Castelluccio spoke up, "would you mind telling us what's going on?"

Frankie rocked back and forth on his feet for a moment, "Uh...well, you see..."

 

Looking at everyone seated and just watching him caused him to freeze. "Give me just a moment."

 

He hated to leave Bob like that, but he needed a moment. As he walked towards Francine's room he could feel everyone look away, he assumed they were now all fixated on Bob. He went and opened Francine's door where she was happily having a tea party with Murphy.

"Honey, can you come out here for a moment?"

Francine looked up at her father in confusion, "Am I in trouble?" she furrowed her brow.

"No, sweetheart," Frankie shook his head, "there are just some people I want you to meet, okay?"

Francine looked at him for a moment, but she nodded and hopped up to grab Frankie's hand.

"...so that's where we are," Bob was saying, sounding slightly more confident than he had when Frankie had left them, "We've had Francine for a couple weeks now."

"We wanted her to get comfortable with us before meeting new people," Frankie cut in, returning the smile Bob shot him.

Francine was clinging to Frankie's leg, trying to hide behind it, but Frankie gently tugged her out in front of him. Bob knelt down to her level and gave her a reassuring smile.

"These are your grandparents, Francine," he explained gently, "Over there are my parents, Grandma and Grandpa, and those are your Daddy's parents, Nonna and Nonno."

"What's that mean?" Francine asked in a whisper.

 

"It's Italian for grandma and grandpa," Bob replied, "that's where your Daddy's family is from. Do you want to come and meet them?"

Francine looked up at Frankie, who simply smiled down at her, before looking back to Bob and nodding shyly.

"Well everyone," Bob began, "this is Francine."

Francine didn't say anything as she shyly waved to the group of older people in front of her.

Frankie relaxed as he watched a smile spread across his mother's face. She was thrilled, just as he had known she would be.

"Oh, Francesco," she breathed, "this is the best gift you've ever given me."

She turned her attention to the young girl still giving Bob's hand a death grip.

"Will you come over here to me?"

Slowly, reluctantly Francine did so, standing with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Oh, look at her," Mrs. Castelluccio sighed happily, gently running a hand through Francine's hair, "she looks so much like Frankie did at this age."

"I'm seven," Francine informed quietly.

"Such a big girl," Mr. Gaudio put in with a wide grin, "it's very nice to meet you, my dear."

He held out a hand, which Francine shook with a giggle. Bob glanced at his mother, half of him not wanting to see her expression.

But on his mother's face there was the slightest hint of a smile, and the stony look in her eyes seemed to fade as she watched her husband and Francine, she gave Bob an approving nod.

“Between you and Sammi I always wondered who would be the first to give us grandchildren,” Mr. Gaudio laughed, “and while she’s married to her work, I never really thought that it would be you either.”

“It’s taken some getting used to,” Bob replied, “but we like having Francine around.”

“Daddy said that we go to the carnival with Uncle Tommy and Uncle Nicky!” Francine chirped excitedly.

Both Mr and Mrs.Castelluccio looked at their son, “Frankie, is she talking about Tommy DeVito?” his father asked.

Frankie resisted the urge to sigh. His parents thought that Tommy was a bad influence on him. They were right, of course, but Tommy was still his friend.

"He's been really great with her," Bob put in. Frankie looked at him in surprise. Bob and Tommy had never quite gotten along and he didn't expect that defense.

Mr. Castelluccio looked towards Bob, "That is quite a shock."

Frankie smiled slightly, it had been a shock to them too but in these few short weeks they'd watched a Tommy get close to Francine and while there were some things get wished he didn't do they were grateful they got on so well.

"Robert," Mrs. Gaudio called softly, "will you help me get some more coffee?"

Bob tensed. His mother could get coffee herself, she knew their kitchen very well, but he could tell she wanted to talk. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Sure, mom," he responded, sounding much more willing than he felt. Frankie gave Bob's hand a reassuring squeeze as he passed, pulling him to halt.

"It'll be fine," Frankie murmured, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," sighed Bob, "I love you."

"I love you too."

His mother was already in the kitchen, leaning against the counter as the electric kettle burbled beside her.

She tapped against the side of the mug in her hands and the two of them were quiet for a moment.

"Mom?" Bob pressed.

"Robert, do you have any idea what you're doing?" his mother finally let out.

Here it comes... This was what he's been waiting for and dreading in equal measure, "To be honest, no not really," he admitted, "but I think we're doing alright."

His mother sighed and shook her head.

"I think Frankie and I can take care of Francine just fine," Bob added.

He figured he might as get it out in the open instead of tiptoeing around it. Bob was certain that this is what his mother was concerned about, why else would she have brought him into the kitchen? She just didn't want to say that in front of Frankie and his parents.

"Robert," his mother said carefully, "raising a child is--"

"Hard work," finished Bob harshly, "yeah, I know that, you know that, and you can very well bet that Francine's mother knew that too, but do you know what she did? She came here and left Francine, not knowing that Frankie has someone in his life to help him."

Bob continued, not allowing his mother to get a word in, although the look on her face said that she didn't know what to say, "Do you know how big Frankie's family is? We are not in this alone and even if we were, I would stay by his side to take care of that girl because I love him. I know that we'll have help from his family, whether or not you do the same."

From out in the living room he could hear the Castelluccios and his father laughing, probably at something Francine had just said. Bob glanced that way momentarily before looking squarely at his mother.

“Bobby, I don’t know what to say,” His mother sighed.

"I know it's been difficult for you to get your head around my relationship with Frankie," Bob said, his voice soft again, "but we've been together for almost three years and now we have an amazing seven year old girl. If that's not permanence, I don't know what is."

He swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat, "All I ever wanted was for you to accept me how I am, Momma, even if you don't understand it. That's my family out there and I want them to be part of your family too."

There was a tense silence and just as Bob was about to turn and leave the room, Mrs. Gaudio carefully put down her half-full mug and opened her arms to him.

Bob welcomed her embrace, it had been a long time since they’d been able to have a moment like this. In the more recent year,s they’d ended quite badly, but this reminded him of the relationship they used to have and he hoped that they could get back to that point.

“Francine is a very lucky girl,” His mother spoke quietly.

“We’re lucky to have her,” Bob replied as they broke away.

Mrs. Gaudio wiped the tears from Bob’s cheeks, just the way she used to when he was a child, and he gave a watery chuckle. His mother smiled softly.

“You’re missing something amazing,” Frankie said with a laugh and he came into the kitchen, obviously ready to save Bob if necessary.

Mrs. Gaudio patted Bob’s cheek lightly and left the kitchen to join the chorus of laughter in the other room.

“Everything alright?”

Bob grinned and drew Frankie into a tight embrace.

 

“Perfect.”


End file.
